MassLive recently asked readers to identify people who are leaders from the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community throughout the state, working to make a difference in politics, education, business, the arts or another area of interest.
Profiles of these leaders will be published through AAPI Heritage Month in May. These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change.
Chareeda Rustanavibul. Image courtesy of Chareeda Rustanavibul.Chareeda Rustanavibul
Chareeda Rustanavibul
Age: 27
Community: Boston
Her Story: A self-described startup enthusiast, community builder and nonprofit executive, Chareeda Rustanavibul is a New England native and the first in her family to go to college.
Born and raised in Bangor, Maine, she went into banking immediately after college and started her career in wealth management and commercial lending.
“During my initial banking years, I felt discouraged by lacking AAPI representation in senior leadership positions,” Rustanavibul said. “I sought out AAPI communities where I could find more mentorship with leaders I could identify with.”
In this pursuit, Rustanavibul found the National Association of Asian American Professional’s Boston chapter (NAAAP Boston), where she said she saw the “incredible community fostered in the professional space.”
At NAAAP Boston, Rustanavibul said the organization provided her with a strong community of mentors and colleagues and inspired her to make more community-building efforts beyond the AAPI community and in her professional career.
For the past three years, Rustanavibul has worked for Silicon Valley Bank in the role of a vice president and managing a network of New England early-stage tech founders.
“I have built a strong community of early-stage founders, connecting them with venture capitalists and investors to provide more access to capital to grow their businesses,” she said of her position.
Rustanavibul said she is “passionate” about the matter, and has helped to lead initiatives at the bank which allocate sponsorship funding to organizations supporting underrepresented startup founders.
In her work, Rustanavibul has also led the “Strategic Partnerships” team for NAAAP Boston. Here, she said she works with community partners and corporations to incentivize community building and executive leadership training for professionals of Asian heritage.
In 2023, Rustanavibul added she was the chief convention director for the group, in which she led a national team of over 100 volunteers to deliver Boston’s largest leadership convention for AAPI professionals.
She noted this was the organization’s highest sponsored convention in four decades and brought together various AAPI communities to “unify visionaries.”
Rustanavibul is also a community fellow at Gold House, where she manages a network of more than 500 top AAPI business founders nationwide.
“My passion for advancing and uniting Boston’s startup and AAPI community has earned me the title of a ‘Top Ten Outstanding Young Leader’ by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and an ‘Unsung Hero’ by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American & Pacific Islanders Commission,” according to Rustanavibul.
In her words: “Building strong relationships is more than just a one-and-done activity. It is about creating long-term authentic connections that can drive systemic change when visions are aligned. It is important to lean into your strengths, take up space, and be vocal about your vision for the community you want to build.”
We’re always open to hearing about more inspiring people. If you’d like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form.
